Text Messages

A Torah Commentary for Teens

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An indispensable resource for everyone who cares about the Jewish future.

“Every passage of Torah has the potential to be someone’s personal story and teaching—and that definitely includes you as a teenager. If you read these stories, and if you really let these holy texts into your mind and into your soul, your life will be deeper and richer, and even happier.”

—from the Introduction

Young people need to be included in the struggle for meaning, for the right questions to ask and the search for useful and relevant answers. This is the book that has been missing from the ever-expanding bookshelf of Torah commentaries—a collection of messages on each Torah portion, specifically for today’s teens. It shows them how each Torah portion contains worlds of meaning for them, for what they are going through in their lives, and how they can shape their Jewish identity as they enter adulthood.

Addressing the concerns of young adults, it shows how the Torah can help teens deal with issues including:

Interpersonal relationships

Social justice

Sexuality and gender issues

Personal ethics

Responsibility to family

Community and the Jewish people

Body image

Tattoos

Community service

The meaning of faith

Authority and rebellion

The role of ritual

Personal theology

Prayer

Civility

Living safely

Dealing with disabilities

Challenges of eating morally

This groundbreaking spiritual resource is truly transdenominational— including the insights of over 100 Jews who identify as Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal, post-denominational and “just Jewish.” They are rabbis, cantors, educators, authors and community leaders. Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal, post-denominational and “just Jewish.” They are rabbis, cantors, educators, authors and community leaders.

“[A] rare find.... Uniformly excellent.... Show[s] how Judaism and the Torah remain relevant, even as technology and our metaphors for understanding the biblical text radically change over time.”

—The Jewish Federation of Boome Country Reporter

“Thoughtful [and] profound.... Communicates Jewish values in a way that young people can relate to and learn from without sermonizing.”

—Jewish Book Council

“Very accessible... Written with an intelligent teenager in mind.... A ‘must’ purchase for synagogues and schools.”

—Association of Jewish Libraries

“Succeed[s] ... in not haranguing readers but rather encouraging them to follow the lesson of the passages.... Useful.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Provocative questions.... Dozens of issues raised in these relevant messages that give answers to teens about matters that concern them.”

—The Jewish Eye

“The struggle for meaning, for the right questions to ask and the search for useful and relevant answers is everyone’s work, but for teens and young adults it may be particularly daunting.... Contain[s] a method of making Torah meaningful, of relating to and perhaps owning the wisdom it contains.”